History
Aburahi Station opened on 15 December 1959 on the Japanese National Railways Kusatsu Line between Tsuge and Koka, in what is now the city of Koka, Shiga Prefecture. The station was de-staffed on 1 October 1971, and on 1 April 1987 it became part of JR West with the privatisation of JNR. A new station building was completed on 23 March 2002, designed in the style of a ninja residence as part of Koka wider effort to promote its historical association with ninjutsu as a tourist attraction. ICOCA support via a simple IC card reader was added on 17 March 2018. The station is now a simplified-commission stop where tickets are sold only from automated machines, with costumed attendants occasionally performing ticket inspection.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-18.
Notes
Aburahi station building was designed to look like a ninja residence to complement Koka tourism branding, and during certain hours the simplified-commission attendants on duty wear ninja costumes while checking tickets.